Anxiety and binge eating

ceeshellz

I have generalized anxiety disorder and have a tendency to binge eat. I am not sure why I do it. Its like I am almost in a panic when I am doing it and then when I am done of course the guilt sets in. It is so frustrating!!! :noway: Does anyone have this problem or any thoughts on it? Anything helps

Thanks

Lasityttö

I pretty much the same problems, though my anxiety disorder is unspecified. (It's a mixture of features from generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder.) I sometimes over eat to reduce anxiety, especially when studying. I actually wrote in an eating disorder group about this, but I'll paste here what I wrote there.

I am a person who is easily stressed out. The worst about it is that when I’m stressed, I can’t really focus. I’m a student at a uni, and my studies are the main thing that causes stress for me. I should actually be writing a paper right now, but I feel like my thoughts are running away, because I’m so anxious about this task. I know that part of the reason why I’m so stressed is that I demand too much of myself, I want to be perfect, I don’t want to get any complaints of my paper when I give it in. I’m working on this, but I can’t change it quickly.
The problem I’m having is that I’ve noticed I got one way to get myself to focus and block the anxiety. It’s to eat. Eat, eat and eat some more. Last time I had a good writing session, I also ended up eating 1500 calories. That day I totalled over 3000 calories. I don’t want every day I study to be like that! I don’t want to gain, I don’t want to put that much junk in me. I would eat that amount in healthy foods if it helped, but all that seems to make me feel better and help to make a barrier against anxiety seems to be anything with fat and refined carbs. Anyone else feel like this? How can I get myself to focus without a stomach painfully full of chocolate, candy, bread, chips and whatnot?
I do have plan to eat something really filling, but not as much calories first, and then have the bad stuff. Maybe I’d eat a bit less, so I wouldn’t total on crazy amount of calories. I’m thinking oatmeal, a large plate, and then whatever actually helps. I need to get my studies done too, and junk food seems to be the only way I’ll manage.
I used to purge, but I don’t do that anymore, or so I have promised myself. Last time I kind of wanted to, but I know it’s dangerous and I’m terrified that something bad would happen.

So I don't really have any answers for you. Just that I do the same, and the last week or so has been really bad, calorie-wise. Today I had used all my calories before 11 am.. It's 14 pm now, so I'll be eating more. I hope that when I have less stress, I'll do better.
You can add me if you like.

wemmsie

ditto im in theripy(cbt) HAVE PTSD AND DEPRESSION AND A UNDERACIVE THYROID I FIND IT HARD WHEN I GET UPSET NOT TO REACH FOR THE SNACK CUBOURD,BUT BEING ON HERE AND FB GROUPS THERES ALLWAYS SOMEONE TO TALK TO TO GIVE ME A KICK UP THE BUM Xsorry bout caps!

MyFeistyEvolution

I am in the same boat as you. To top it off, I also have been diagnosed with OCD and depression (all which run in the family) and my weight has been an obstacle for a very long time.

Binge eating is a real pain the butt. I get what youre saying...you literally just put food in your mouth, one handful after the other and can't stop. I've had people say "Just stop eating" and it's like "Um hello...if I could, I WOULD!" It's not a simple thing to deal with and you can't necessarily be cured, but you can identify what anxious topis or moments make you eat. For me, work stress throws me overboard. That and finances. The past couple of weeks I've had some binges and went from every emotion including guilt, anger, and embarassment. I closed my diary, locked it, opened it back up and it was all to ignore the real problem.

Every person is different but a few things that can help lessen anxiety and help you be more focused include things like exercising (if you don't already), have one hobby that you love that is absolutely stress free (for me this is going for a joyride or playing music (flute) at home). I'm actually in the process of making a vision board to keep in my room. Since I'm pretty focused on trying to get to a healthy weight again, I've ended up making it harder for myself by stressing about it. I also want to regain my confidence in my choices, be organized, energized, kinder to others etc so I put these words and pictures of things that I see when I think about those words, on foam board. Every day when I wake up I will see that and I hope it will help me to remember more of the small gifts in life and stop focusing what I can't control at this exact moment.

I came clean to my husband recently about my binge eating. He knew I had a problem and knows my background but didn't know how serious it had been. He now is the one who will go grocery shopping and is taking more initiative to plan meals and snacks so even if I am binging at home, I will at least have healthier choices and be full much quicker.

The number one thing to remember is just take one day at a time. There will be good days and bad days but don't ever beat yourself up over binging...just make a choice every day to try and correct it.

Lolli1986

I sort of binge... but it is only on chocolate, and it usually has to have some sort of crunch to it, like m&ms. i think for me it is a repetitive action that reinforces a repetitive thought. i mostly do it when I am trying to 'solve a problem', or am planning how to deal with something that might make me anxious (bahaha... i know, i know, that sentence basically sums up the root of the disorder).

Somewhere along the way, my mind decided that repeatedly attacking a thought from every angle until it is solved will minimise that amount of time that i can possibly spend being anxious about the unsolved problem. (lmao... i know, i know. bear with me). Somehow, my mind discovered that if i undertake a repetitive action, my ability to think about one thing becomes more focussed. i literally continue thinking about this one thing from every aspect, sometimes retracing that aspect, until i am down to repeating sentences or words. at this point, i am exhausted, have usually been stuck in place doing something ridiculous like picking at my legs, or eating m&ms for half an hour to an hour... sometimes hours (though thankfully i can't eat chocolate for hours).

Unfortunately, this is entirely irrational. Focussing down on a single thought is NOT going to solve the problem faster. In reality, the most efficient way for me to solve a problem is to acknowledge that i am in fact a very capable problem solver and can RELAX until a problem actually occurs, and i will deal with it on the spot.

Identifying triggers is helpful, but because we are anxious people, in general at least one of the triggers will be something we actually must do in order to survive or achieve our goals. So avoiding the trigger is not an option.

My psychologist taught me that when I am stuck in a repetitive thought cycle, it is very similar to simply saying the word 'orange orange orange' over and over again to try to understand and experience that orange. However, in reality, i can imagine how that orange tastes, the texture of the skin, the juice bursting out of the cells, the little spray of acid.... this is a much more effective way to experience the orange. When I am saying 'orange orange orange' over and over again, I am beginning to disassociate the word from the reality of the orange.

Long story short, once i identify when I am having an 'orange' thought pattern, I use a distraction technique to forcibly break that thought pattern. Since I started to be able to identify my 'orange' thoughts, I have binged on chocolate less and pick at my legs less.

.....yyyyeah, we're pretty sure it's OCD, haha. i get 'stuck' a lot. in fact i am 'stuck' on MFP right now.

JMarigold

YES

That is all.

No . . . really I think acknowledging it is a good step in the right direction. Then stopping the cycle when you become "AWARE" is another good step to attempt.

I binged last night. I've been very anxious for the past week and its a struggle. I know that its in huge part b/c the mental stress wears down our natural "Willpower." When mentally exhausted the simple ability to say NO become very compromised--or so I've read.

I think one thing to consider is to really try and limit the things available in the house for you to binge on. Since I tend to break down mostly when I'm at home this is one of the best strategies for me.

Did you know that they have actually found in studies (I know I have no citations) that simply seeing the food you are trying not to eat means that you are actively denying it constantly and thus wears down your natural store of mental strength. Fascinating. I think for those of us who are using a lot of mental strength to combat our anxiety it really destroys our ability to just NOT do it. I mean this morning I'm flummoxed. I've NOT done it or even thought about doing it dozens of nights before but last night my hands and mouth had a will of their own and my mental walls of resistance seems non-existent.

Which is why I've decided I just have to severely limit the amount of "binge-friendly" foods in the house.

82JunkintheTrunk

This is my first post and even though I'm hesitant to actually admit my bad habits and discuss my struggle with panic & depression it is comforting to know that I'm not the only one.

I can relate in the sense that I can't just eat a small portion of something and almost always have the entire package. I used to have a high degree of self-control, but now I justify the binging as a "reward" for getting through a panic attack or long day.

The only way I control this is by keeping snack foods out of the house. So when its 2 a.m. my options are very limited and I can't binge no matter how much I want to. A less restrictive approach is buying single units of something (like 1 ice cream cone instead of a box of 6).

lorro

I have generalized anxiety disorder and have a tendency to binge eat. I am not sure why I do it. Its like I am almost in a panic when I am doing it and then when I am done of course the guilt sets in. It is so frustrating!!! :noway: Does anyone have this problem or any thoughts on it? Anything helps

Thanks

Are you anxious when you are doing it? Are you aware of any body symptoms of concern: racing heart, breathlessness etc? Or is it more that you've got very anxious before you eat and the food calms you down and distracts you? I dentifying the trigger and function is important in changing this habit.

Here is a site with evidence based slef help treatment programmes which are free. There are two for eating problems and one for worry. Also for the person who is socially anxious there is a programme for that too:

http://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/resources/consumers.cfm

onlyxone

Hi all. This is my first post but I just wanted to say that I am there with you 100%.

I have depression and mix of generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder. I am such a binge eater and it makes it difficult when I'm try to drop some pounds. It's always after I binge, that the guilt sets in and I beat myself up about it.

I find it so hard to control because most of the time, I don't really realize how much and how many calories I just ate!

Yogafit28

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Natniek

Whenever I have a panic attack, my aftermath is the strong desire to eat chocolate or some equally bad food. It gives me a temporary mood boost, so I guess that's the reason.

Terraforcejenny

Is it panic-then-binge, or you start binge-then-panic...?

I don't usually want to eat during a panic attack or the more jittery kind of anxiety moments, but if I'm out and about and in a social scenario (or one where I feel pressure to "present" myself), I'm more likely to eat large amounts (usually in the avoidance of social interaction).

I'll also eat a ton of I'm anxiously completeing a task (schoolwork); I've started keeping things like baby carrots around, or biscotti (though this is a sometimes thing), since I think it's more related to the chewing than the eating itself.

I think I like the texture and sensation of eating, like a ritual behavior, versus wanting to feel full, so I'm "engaging" in a comfort ritual to lighten the load but then getting anxious because I'm breaking my diet, etc.

Natniek

Oh wow, I had a major anxiety episode last night.
Long story short, I was in an unfamiliar medical environment and there were sensors all over me and I couldn't sleep even though I was meant to. So I had an anxiety attack and left. On my way home - this was 2:30am - I stopped at 7/11 and bought a tub of ice cream and a jumbo choc chip cookie, and sat in the car eating them.

My panic subsided and went away while I was eating.

I think this is kind of the key to my emotional eating. It calms me, it brings me out of my panic. But it has to be food I really like. *frown*